Method for authorizing local service and related device

Abstract

A method for authorizing a local service and a related device are disclosed. The method includes: In a roaming scenario, when there is no one-to-one roaming agreement between a service provider of a local network and a home operator, if UE accesses a home network, a home network device may authorize a local service based on subscription data of the UE and local service information of the local network when the UE is authorized to access the home network and if the service provider and the home operator are in a same roaming consortium, so that the UE can use a service of a visited location, to reduce load of the home network and improve network resource utilization.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for authorizing a local service, wherein the method is applied to an evolved packet system EPS, and comprises:
 receiving, by a home network device, a first message sent by a local network device, wherein the first message comprises characteristic information of a local network, and the characteristic information comprises local service information;   obtaining, by the home network device, subscription data of UE, and authorizing a local service based on the subscription data and the local service information; and   sending, by the home network device, an identifier of the authorized local service to the local network device.   
     
     
         2 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the characteristic information further comprises at least one of a service provider identifier or a roaming consortium identifier of the local network, and the obtaining, by the home network device, subscription data of UE comprises:
 obtaining, by the home network device, the subscription data of the UE based on at least one of the service provider identifier and the roaming consortium identifier.   
     
     
         3 . The method according to  claim 2 , wherein
 when the home network device is a control plane network element, the obtaining, by the home network device, the subscription data of the UE based on at least one of the service provider identifier and the roaming consortium identifier comprises:   obtaining, by the control plane network element, the subscription data of the UE from a home subscriber server HSS, wherein the subscription data comprises service information corresponding to the at least one of the service provider identifier and the roaming consortium identifier; or   when the home network device is an HSS, the obtaining, by the home network device, the subscription data of the UE based on at least one of the service provider identifier and the roaming consortium identifier comprises:   obtaining, by the HSS, the subscription data of the UE from a local database, wherein the subscription data comprises service information corresponding to the at least one of the service provider identifier and the roaming consortium identifier.   
     
     
         4 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the authorizing, by the home network device, a local service based on the subscription data and the local service information comprises:
 determining, by the home network device, whether the local service information matches the service information; and   if the local service information matches the service information, determining, by the home network device, that the local service is authorized; or if the local service information does not match the service information, determining, by the home network device, that the local service fails to be authorized.   
     
     
         5 . The method according to  claim 4 , wherein the service information comprises at least one of an identifier of a service, a quality of service parameter threshold condition, and a charging policy of the service; and the local service information comprises at least one of an identifier of the local service, a quality of service parameter of the local service, and a charging policy of the local service; and
 the determining, by the home network device, whether the local service information matches the service information comprises at least one of the following:   determining, by the home network device, whether the identifier of the service comprises the identifier of the local service; and if the identifier of the service comprises the identifier of the local service, determining that the local service information matches the service information; or if the identifier of the service does not comprise the identifier of the local service, determining that the local service information does not match the service information;   determining, by the home network device, whether the quality of service parameter of the local service meets the quality of service parameter threshold condition; and if the quality of service parameter meets the quality of service parameter threshold condition, determining that the local service information matches the service information; or if the quality of service parameter does not meet the quality of service parameter threshold condition, determining that the local service information does not match the service information; and   determining, by the home network device, whether the charging policy of the local service matches the charging policy of the service; and if the charging policy of the local service matches the charging policy of the service, determining that the local service information matches the service information; or if the charging policy of the local service does not match the charging policy of the service, determining that the local service information does not match the service information.   
     
     
         6 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises:
 generating, by the home network device, a local service selection policy based on the authorized local service; and   sending, by the home network device, the local service selection policy to the UE.   
     
     
         7 . A method for authorizing a local service, wherein the method is applied to an EPS, and comprises:
 sending, by a local network device, a first message to a home network device, wherein the first message comprises characteristic information of a local network, and the characteristic information comprises local service information;   receiving, by the local network device, an identifier of an authorized local service, wherein the identifier of the authorized local service is sent to the local network device when the local service is authorized by the home network device based on subscription data of UE and the local service information; and   setting up, by the local network device, a local service connection to the UE based on the identifier of the authorized local service when the UE initiates the local service.   
     
     
         8 . The method according to  claim 6 , wherein the method further comprises:
 receiving, by the local network device, a local service selection policy that is generated based on the authorized local service and that is sent by the home network device, and sending the local service selection policy to the UE; or   generating, by the local network device, a local service selection policy based on the authorized local service, and sending the local service selection policy to the UE.   
     
     
         9 . The method according to  claim 8 , wherein the sending, by the local network device, the local service selection policy to the UE comprises:
 sending, by the local network device, the local service selection policy to a local network service device, so that the local network service device forwards the local service selection policy to the UE.   
     
     
         10 . A method for authorizing a local service, wherein the method is applied to an EPS, and comprises:
 sending, by UE, a request message to a local network device, wherein the request message is used to request to access a home network of the UE, so that after the local network device sends the request message and characteristic information of a local network to a home network device, the home network device authorizes, based on the request message and the characteristic information, the UE to access the home network, and authorizes a local service based on subscription data of the UE and local service information that is comprised in the characteristic information; and   receiving, by the UE, a local service selection policy that is generated based on the authorized local service.   
     
     
         11 . The method according to  claim 10 , wherein the receiving, by the UE, a local service selection policy that is generated based on the authorized local service comprises:
 receiving, by the UE, the local service selection policy that is generated based on the authorized local service and that is sent by the home network device; or   receiving, by the UE, the local service selection policy that is generated based on the authorized local service and that is sent by the local network device after the local network device receives an identifier, sent by the home network device, of the authorized local service.   
     
     
         12 . The method according to  claim 10 , wherein the method further comprises:
 determining, by the UE, a requested local service from the local service selection policy, and sending a connection setup request message to the local network device, wherein the connection setup request message comprises an identifier of the requested local service.   
     
     
         13 . A home network device, wherein the home network device is applied to an EPS, and comprises:
 a transceiver module, configured to receive a first message sent by a local network device, wherein the first message comprises characteristic information of a local network, and the characteristic information comprises local service information; and   a processing module, configured to: obtain subscription data of UE, and authorize a local service based on the subscription data and the local service information; wherein   the transceiver module is further configured to send an identifier of the authorized local service to the local network device.   
     
     
         14 . The home network device according to  claim 13 , wherein the characteristic information further comprises at least one of a service provider identifier and a roaming consortium identifier of the local network, and a specific manner in which the processing module obtains the subscription data of the UE is:
 obtaining the subscription data of the UE based on at least one of the service provider identifier and the roaming consortium identifier.   
     
     
         15 . The home network device according to  claim 14 , wherein when the home network device is a control plane network element, a specific manner in which the processing module obtains the subscription data of the UE based on the at least one of the service provider identifier and the roaming consortium identifier is:
 obtaining the subscription data of the UE from an HSS, wherein the subscription data comprises service information corresponding to the at least one of the service provider identifier and the roaming consortium identifier; or   when the home network device is the HSS, a specific manner in which the processing module obtains the subscription data of the UE based on the at least one of the service provider identifier and the roaming consortium identifier is:   obtaining the subscription data of the UE from a local database, wherein the subscription data comprises service information corresponding to the at least one of the service provider identifier and the roaming consortium identifier.   
     
     
         16 . The home network device according to  claim 13 , wherein a specific manner in which the processing module authorizes the local service based on the subscription data and the local service information is:
 determining whether the local service information matches the service information; and if the local service information matches the service information, determining that the local service is authorized; or if the local service information does not match the service information, determining that the local service fails to be authorized, wherein the service information comprises at least one of an identifier of a service, a quality of service parameter threshold condition, and a charging policy of the service; and the local service information comprises at least one of an identifier of the local service, a quality of service parameter of the local service, and a charging policy of the local service; and   a specific manner in which the processing module determines whether the local service information matches the service information is at least one of the following:   determining whether the identifier of the service comprises the identifier of the local service; and if the identifier of the service comprises the identifier of the local service, determining that the local service information matches the service information; or if the identifier of the service does not comprise the identifier of the local service, determining that the local service information does not match the service information;   determining whether the quality of service parameter of the local service meets the quality of service parameter threshold condition; and if the quality of service parameter meets the quality of service parameter threshold condition, determining that the local service information matches the service information; or if the quality of service parameter does not meet the quality of service parameter threshold condition, determining that the local service information does not match the service information; and   determining whether the charging policy of the local service matches the charging policy of the service; and if the charging policy of the local service matches the charging policy of the service, determining that the local service information matches the service information; or if the charging policy of the local service does not match the charging policy of the service, determining that the local service information does not match the service information.   
     
     
         17 . A local network device, wherein the local network device is applied to an EPS, and comprises:
 a transceiver module, configured to send a first message to a home network device, wherein the first message comprises characteristic information of a local network, and the characteristic information comprises local service information, wherein   the transceiver module is further configured to receive an identifier of an authorized local service, wherein the identifier of the authorized local service is sent to the local network device when the local service is authorized by the home network device based on subscription data of UE and the local service information; and   a processing module, configured to set up a local service connection to the UE based on the identifier of the authorized local service when the UE initiates the local service.   
     
     
         18 . The local network device according to  claim 17 , wherein
 the transceiver module is further configured to: receive a local service selection policy that is generated based on the authorized local service and that is sent by the home network device, and send the local service selection policy to the UE; or   the processing module is further configured to generate a local service selection policy based on the authorized local service, and   the transceiver module is further configured to send the local service selection policy to the UE.   
     
     
         19 . UE, wherein the UE is applied to an EPS, and comprises:
 a transceiver module, configured to send a request message to a local network device, wherein the request message is used to request to access a home network of the UE, so that after the local network device sends the request message and characteristic information of a local network to the home network device, the home network device authorizes, based on the request message and the characteristic information, the UE to access the home network, and authorizes a local service based on subscription data of the UE and local service information that is comprised in the characteristic information, wherein   the transceiver module is further configured to receive a local service selection policy that is generated based on the authorized local service.   
     
     
         20 . The UE according to  claim 19 , wherein a specific manner in which the transceiver module receives the local service selection policy that is generated based on the authorized local service is:
 receiving the local service selection policy that is generated based on the authorized local service and that is sent by the home network device; or   receiving the local service selection policy that is generated based on the authorized local service and that is sent by the local network device after the local network device receives an identifier, sent by the home network device, of the authorized local service.